Fifteen winters old, Hirka learns that she is an Odin's child – a tailless rot from another world. Despised. Dreaded. And hunted. She no longer knows who she is, and someone wants to kill her to keep it a secret. But there are worse things than humans, and Hirka is not the only creature to have broken through the gates…
Plot
The plot for this book starts quickly with a dark and intriguing prologue, showing Hirka’s origins. And things do not really slow down. The tension of Hirka and her father’s secrets loom over the entire story. It’s an exciting element that makes the reading go quickly but also made me feel a bit exhausted by the end.
Characters
Hirka is a decent protagonist. She has the interesting dilemma of wanting to be just like everyone else, rather than in many YA novels where the character is struggling to find something unique about themselves. There was also great chemistry between characters but I found that Hirka, outside of the plot, was not exceptionally memorable.
Setting
I had a difficult time getting settled into this world. We’re thrown into Hirka’s life and it takes a while to get explanations for the traditions, religions, and lore. This left me struggling to understand what characters were referring to and it did slow down the pacing of the novel somewhat. Luckily the quick and high-intensity plot pulled me along.
My Recommendation
Odin’s Child is an epic fantasy trilogy originally published in Norway and it is now making its English debut! The plot definitely lives up to the hype. It’s an exciting, tension-filled novel that you will read through quickly. The setting is complex and it takes some time for the author to explain the world and rules. I highly recommend this book to high fantasy fans!
